They defined a funky colored barometric gauge. Red cautions that “everything sucks huge” and green informs that “the recession ain’t getting me down” ‘cos I gotta idea. Young Canadians, it appears, currently are in the tentative and slightly insecure yellow category. Virgin’s creative group calls this the “Sorta Freaking Out Right Now” zone.
“Young people have told us that they’re feeling left out and are fed up with hearing about big corporate bail-outs. They’re looking for someone who’s got their back. We think it’s time everyone got some help on how they can take back control - and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Nathan Rosenberg, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile Canada.
Here are some examples of “screws”: “Eat your girlfriends leftovers, she never eats everything on her plate anyway!”, “Buy stuff in liquid form and stretch it out by adding water.”, “Dont throw out stale bread! It’s perfect for bread pudding.” “Use your old socks for wash rags - great for buffing up your car!”
Most of the posts smack of tongue in cheek humor and make for quirky reading that transports one back to the old good days of vintage “Mad” comics and the addictive strains from Rolling Stones “We can’t get no satisfaction.” At the bare minimum, a smile is guaranteed that might alleviate an otherwise gloom doom scenario and brings all on a common fun-filled, rebellious and outrageous platform. The site facilitates for anyone to log on and scream their solutions on the site.
Here are some of the stats that were revealed from users listening in: 72 percent have serious concerns about what lies in the future and Virgin calls it the biting nails syndrome, 41 percent have become un-brand conscious – brand disloyalty and Gucci sucks (boo hoo), 52 percent welcome whatever is cheap and best – show me the best!, 88 percent have embraced new shopping habits – chic-onomics, 42 percent are majorly sacrificing the things they really liked spending on – recessionistas, 42 percent are realistically funked of not finding a job – unemployment; 57 percent claim that politicians (old, new or promising messiahs) can’t make a damn difference, and 75 percent want a KISS (keep it simple silly) lifestyle.
And the most relevant of them all – 82 percent swear that greed caused the current problems and 76 percent question the ethics of corporations and the single minded focus to determinedly claim bonus.
Rosenberg added, “Lots of people are feeling misled and, even worse, that the promise of a bright future is now in doubt. We’re not just looking to solve money stresses, but to bring back a feeling of positively and hope. If big brands don’t start listening, people will easily vote with their wallets and go somewhere else – it’s time to stop whining about bonuses and start worrying about benefits to customers!”